Systems for controlling the flow of fluids, such as compressed air, natural gas, oil, propane, or the like, are generally known in the art. These systems often include at least one control valve for controlling various flow parameters of the fluid. Typical control valves include a valve control element such as a valve plug, for example, movably disposed within the flow path for controlling the flow of the fluid. The position of such a control element can be controlled by a positioner via a pneumatic actuator such as a piston actuator or a diaphragm-based actuator, as is known in the art. Conventional positioners deliver pneumatic signals to the actuator to stroke the valve control element between an open and a closed position, for example. The speed at which a standard positioner can stroke the control valve, however, partly depends on the sizes of the actuator and the control valve. For example, larger actuators/control valves typically take longer to be stroked.
Therefore, such systems additionally employ one or more volume boosters located between the positioner and the actuator. For single-acting valves, a single volume booster is typically employed. For double-acting valves, two volume boosters are employed, one for each side of the actuator control element (i.e. piston or diaphragm) coupled to the valve. The volume boosters are used to amplify the volume of the pneumatic signal sent from the positioner, thereby increasing the speed at which the actuator strokes the control valve.